Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cultivar 2002-0517.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Kalanchoe plant, botanically known as Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x982002-0517xe2x80x99.
The new Kalanchoe is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Hinnerup, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program was to create new freely-flowering Kalanchoe cultivars with large flowers, numerous petals per flower, attractive flower coloration and excellent postproduction longevity.
The new Kalanchoe originated from a cross-pollination made in Hinnerup, Denmark, of the Kalanchoe cultivar 2001-1855, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Kalanchoe cultivar Mary, disclosed in U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/396,683, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Kalanchoe was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled environment in Hinnerup, Denmark.
Asexual reproduction of the new Kalanchoe by terminal cuttings taken at Hinnerup, Denmark, by the Inventor, has shown that the unique features of this new Kalanchoe are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar 2002-0517 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x982002-0517xe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x982002-0517xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright plant habit.
2. Dark green-colored leaves.
3. Large dark red-colored flowers with more than 10 petals per flower.
4. Excellent postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Kalanchoe differ from plants of the parent cultivars in petal number and coloration.
Compared to plants of the Kalanchoe cultivar 2002-0518, disclosed in a U.S. Plant Patent application filed concurrently, plants of the new Kalanchoe have fewer petals per flower and differ in flower coloration.